Firefox 8 Beta Released for Mac OS X

Firefox is a reliable browser that has been around for multiple platforms for a long time.

The final beta release of Firefox 8 is now available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. It can be downloaded from Mozilla's FTP servers here. Or you can follow these easier links if you're not good with navigating through FTP:

Added a preference to load tabs on demand, improving start-up time when windows are restored

Improved tab animations when moving, reordering, or detaching tabs

Improved performance and memory handling

Added CORS support for cross-domain textures in WebGL

Added support for HTML5 context menus

Added support for insertAdjacentHTML

Improved CSS hyphen support for many languages

Improved WebSocket support

Fixed several stability issues

Unfortunately, Firefox 8 still does not support the full-screen apps feature of Mac OS X Lion. I am blissfully awaiting that feature so that I can make use of every pixel on the screen.

Before the update to Firefox 7, Firefox was my browser of choice. After they released an unsteady Java Console loader which I depended on for numerous websites, I made the switch to Google Chrome where I can still use AdBlock Plus. Generally I would use Safari if I could, but I became spoiled with AdBlock Plus. Firefox still has one of the best add-on databases of any browser for multiple operating systems. For that, I will continue to leave it installed even though it's not my main browser.

I'm happy to announce though, that Firefox 8 fully supports Java Console and will fix many of the issues that people have been having with Firefox 7. That being said, will you be downloading it? Share in the comments below!